Public Lecture: Re-imagining Resettlement Practice through Arts-based Methods
Free Public Lecture
Re-imagining Resettlement Practice through Arts-based Methods
Professor Sara Kindon
Victoria University of Wellington
Monday 14 December 2020, 12.30-1.30pm
Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Migration, particularly forced migration, and resettlement can expose people to experiences which may be hard to articulate verbally or in writing, particularly if the vehicle of communication is in a second or third language. Yet finding ways to enable people to process and express challenging experiences can aide in their resettlement by supporting greater resilience and wellbeing.
This talk from Professor Sara Kindon of Victoria University of Wellington, who is the Centre for Global Migrations’ 2020 Visiting Scholar, draws on the use of arts-based methods to explore ways in which working beyond words can tap into hidden stories and help us to re-imagine future resettlement possibilities.
Public Lecture: Feeling into Refugee Resettlement in Aotearoa New Zealand
Free Public Lecture
Feeling into Refugee Resettlement in Aotearoa New Zealand
Professor Sara Kindon
Victoria University of Wellington
Friday 11 December 2020, 12.30-1.30pm
Dunningham Suite, Floor 4, Dunedin Public Library, Moray Place
Aotearoa New Zealand often receives international acclaim for its high-quality approach to refugee resettlement, despite its small quota. The country’s refugee resettlement strategy is also recognised for attending to important dimensions of life: self sufficiency, health, education, housing and political participation, and is supported by cross-sectoral work between government and non-government actors. Despite these efforts, however, and the formidable resilience and strengths of many former refugees, many ‘new Kiwis’ report challenges in adjusting to life in this country. They lack important social capital, suffer racial or religious discrimination, and find it hard to access and learn about Te Ao Māori.
This public lecture from Professor Sara Kindon, the Centre for Global Migrations’ 2020 Visiting Scholar, questions what might be missing from the NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy as it is currently conceived. Drawing on research as well as anecdotal reflections by resettlement support workers, the talk queries how reframing New Zealand’s strategy may better honour people’s lived realities, foster more belonging in place, and help them to feel more ‘at home’.
2020 Visiting Scholar: Professor Sara Kindon
We are delighted to announce that our 2020 Visiting Scholar is Professor Sara Kindon, Professor in the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington. Professor Kindon will work with our member Dr Vivienne Anderson to advance a co-authored article on advocacy research with refugee-background students transitioning into and through tertiary education, and run an advocacy workshop.
During her time in Dunedin, Professor Kindon will give two public talks. The first will reflect on New Zealand’s Refugee Resettlement Strategy while the second discusses arts-based methods in resettlement situations. Further details will follow soon.
New Project: Exploring Refugee Access to Primary Healthcare Services in Aotearoa
Refugees represent a diverse group of displaced individuals with unique health issues and disease risks. New Zealand has long been accepting refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Iraq, Myanmar, and Syria. Since 2016 more people who have had to flee conflict in Syria, Palestine and Iraq have arrived. Although New Zealand has a well-designed resettlement program for refugees that includes initial health screening and later access to funded health care, data on the experience of refugees with the New Zealand health care system is scarce.
Funded by the Health Research Council, this research activation project aims to develop relationships with the recent refugee communities/community from Arabian countries who have made their home in Wellington and Dunedin. Led by Dr Mudassir Anwar, the project team is keen to work with these communities to establish their primary health care needs, how these are currently being fulfilled, and what barriers they have experienced in accessing health care.
For further details contact Dr Mudassir Anwar.
